Hasty hasn’t missed a Future Stars watch list all season, and he tops our final release after his resounding victory at the NXN Southeast regional. The sophomore’s 14:55 on Saturday is the first sub-15:00 for the Class of 2018, and he enters the Portland finale on a five-race winning streak. 

After a brilliant freshman campaign that saw Kern finish eighth at the Illinois state meet, the York sophomore seemingly had a slow start to Year Two by finishing 10th at the Richard Spring Invite and 7th at the Palatine Invitational in consecutive races. But like any good coach’s son, Kern saved his best for last— runner-up at the state meet, his fifth place finish at NXN Midwest sends him to Portland for the first time. 

Monroe’s 15:00 5K on October 14th stood as the fastest mark by a sophomore for nearly a month and a half before Hasty’s 14:55 this past weekend, and despite losing his spot atop the 2018 leaderboard, the Crater High star will have a great shot to lead all 10th graders at NXN. His third place finish at NXN Northwest puts him squarely in the hunt. 

Horter, a mainstay on this list throughout 2015, ran off a string of seven straight victories in the middle of the season to secure his place in our final release. The Lakota East sophomore was the top non-senior at the Ohio state meet (3rd), no doubt a sign of the dominance to come. His season ended with an 11th place finish at NXN Midwest, but the future is incredibly bright. 

Landgraf has been the best sophomore in the state of California throughout 2015, and he once again proved as much with his 10th place showing at CIF’s top division on Saturday. His 14:28 3-mile remains second-best for the Class of 2018 this season. 

After a disastrous 72nd place at the Texas state meet that ended his perfect season, Austin Westlake’s Matthew Kearney proved his resiliency by finishing seventh at NXN South, punching his ticket to this weekend’s championship race in Portland. Kearney was only 28th at his Foot Locker regional, but that was still good for top sophomore honors last Saturday in Charlotte.

The son of Nike Bowerman Track Club coach Jerry Schumacher, Josh cracks the first team here by virtue of his steady improvement throughout 2015 that included a 15:07 5K PR on October 9th. Young Schumacher didn’t have a good day at NXN Northwest (34th), but five sub-16:00 races this fall is plenty to get excited about for 2016 and beyond.

Second Team

Rockford High (MI) sophomore Cole Johnson

Danny Kilrea (LaGrande, IL)

10th at Illinois state meet; #3 3-mile for Class of 2018 (14:35) 

 

Josh Hoey (Downingtown, PA)

 

Cole Johnson (Rockford, MI)

 

Ethan Hageman (San Antonio, TX)

 

Caleb Terrill (Torrance, CA)

 

Nathan Lawler (Rochester, NY)

 

Clayton Mendez (Chicago, IL)